"One of the great streaks in the history of sports came to an end today after President Obama cancelled a golf outing at the last minute this morninig, apparently out of concern over threatening skies.

It now appears golf will not be rescheduled for later today.

Obama had gone golfing 13 weekends in row, at least once every weekend since all the way back to April 3."

Bush had a secret plan too. After the election, Bush gave Obama two sealed letters. "Open the first one as soon as you're inaugurated," Bush said. Obama did so. It read "Blame everything on me. And when that stops working, open the second letter." Obama opened the second letter last night. It read "Write two letters pal."

We would have far more success if Michelle Obama mediated the discussions:

"Listen you little pantywastes! Barry's been under so much pressure these last two months that HE CAN'T PERFORM so we're going to cut a FRACKING DEAL WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR or I'm going to PUNCH YOUR FRACKING HEARTS OUT!"

You haven't seen anything until you've seen a sexually frustrated cow. - Rose Nylund.

"It’s a national and international crisis. Members of Congress in my view should stop playing around with theory and ideology and look at reality," said Charlie Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development.

"Some of these holdouts have been pennywise and pound foolish, and I think it will hurt Republicans,” said Kolb, a former staffer in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. “Independents are breaking more with the Democrats, in terms of who’s taking a responsible approach. You can’t let ideological rigidity get in the way of a practical outcome."

The Tea Party claim they want to help America. They do not. They live in an ideology. Not in the real world.

I live in America. Common sense tells you there are only two choices: 1) Both parties need to work together and find a solution to this debt ceiling issue.OR2) Both parties have a stand-off which will most likely really f*&k up the economy and lending and business and wall street and benefit payments...etc.

Which would you choose?

Sure, not all compromises are perfect or even preferable. But by and large they are the ONLY way to get things done.

The current congress simply cannot work with ONLY a right wing or ONLY a left wing solution. It is impossible. So it is time to reach for the possible. [And btw there isn't even a left wing solution on the table].

Partisan ideologues do not understand this. They think that because their little corner of the world is all liberal or all conservative then the entire US needs to suck it up and accept their political vision. It's absurd. We need more adults in Washington and elsewhere.

The 3/5ths compromise was a good deal. It helped prevent the spread of slavery. It was the best thing that was possible at the time, if we were to have a nation.

Remember, since we did not have black suffrage at the time, the 3/5ths compromise limited the allocation of Southern representatives. It was a very pro-abolitionist passage in the Constitution at the time.

The current congress simply cannot work with ONLY a right wing or ONLY a left wing solution. It is impossible. So it is time to reach for the possible. [And btw there isn't even a left wing solution on the table].

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Since the left has no solution, there can only be a right wing solution.

I live in America. Common sense tells you there are only two choices: 1) Both parties need to work together and find a solution to this debt ceiling issue.OR2) Both parties have a stand-off which will most likely really f*&k up the economy and lending and business and wall street and benefit payments...etc.

In thinking about the way Matt has framed the question, it seems to me the Democratic solution is to do nothing. No structural changes to entitlements. The Republicans solution is way too tepid to get us where we need to ultimately go, but at least they acknowledge that there needs to be changes.

You clearly are not paying attention are you? Watching only FOX News again? The Democrats have numerous plans. One recent one was even more ambitious, was longer term, did not raise taxes and would save more money than the GOP plan. Please do some research.

You clearly are not paying attention are you? Watching only FOX News again? The Democrats have numerous plans. One recent one was even more ambitious, was longer term, did not raise taxes and would save more money than the GOP plan. Please do some research.

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I was quoting you saying there was no "left wing plan" doofus.

And if you're talking about the Reid plan, you're a complete fucking joker. It's all fake savings along the lines of "Well, we were going to spend x trillion dollars in some science fiction future on something, but now we won't do that and call that a "cut".

His plan is a sham and your pox on both houses concern trolling is a sham too.

Matt - You're missing the point of my question. $1T, $2T, $3T is chump change. What do you, as a liberal, think we should do to fix the $50T (I actually think it's over $100T) in unfunded liabilities that AJ brought up.

This debt ceiling issue is a side show compared to the real work that must be done.

"[The Democrats are] engaged in a war against math they think the problem will just go away."

That seems to be the case. Unfortunately, the need to compromise with them (they do control 2/3rds of the government) means the Republican proposals are way to tepid to make the real changes that need to be made.

I'd start by raising taxes. Then end the tax cuts for the wealthy, raise the age for Social Security and Medicare benefits. Wouldn't hurt to end the wars we are in either. There are many other cuts to programs but a good number are negligible. That's a start.

What would you do? Cut every single program and take us back to 1775 so we can all pretend to be self sustaining agrarian farmers with nothing but a military?

Both taxes and defense spending are in line with historical norms. Entitlements, government employee benefits, and subsidies are what are out of line. I'm willing to cut everything, but priority should be where we spend more than we did in the past (as % of GDP) when the nation was stronger.

The nation was stronger [and strongest] when taxes were higher and there were more entitlements - such as the GI bill, which helped build the middle class.

Taxes now are quite low. Cutting entitlements is one step but why is it that conservatives want poor and elderly people to feel the pain but they want the wealthy to get off easy? It's odd. I thought the Republican party was trying to reach out to working Americans. Instead they are showing their Harding & Hoover trickle down tendencies - which have never worked.

Matt - Well, I'd start by acknowledging that you can only fund government to the tune of 18% of GDP. (You want me to compromise? I might be willing to give you 19 or 20% to get the rest of what's necessary.) That will define the level of taxation. I would not tax people's savings. In fact, I'd restructure the entire tax code. I would do away with corporate welfare and subsidies.

I'd dispense with baseline budgeting. I would require the government to stick to a balanced budget, though exactly what that means is open for discussion (capital budgets, operating budgets, etc.). I'd eliminate counterproductive agencies like the Depts. of Education and Energy.

I'd restructure SS to give people title to their own money. I'd let them invest that money themselves in "safe" vehicles, if they want.

It turns out that we have all been put on double secret probation by Dean Wormer.

A stray thought: If no one knows the plan, then a secret inside disclosure to Soros and his friends will allow them to make a killing in the currency exchange business, which is all they have ever done.

The secret plan on both sides is to continue the decades long game of Kick the Can Down the Road. Almost all of these pols are primarily interested in getting re-elected. All else falls by the wayside.

I'd start by raising taxes. Then end the tax cuts for the wealthy, raise the age for Social Security and Medicare benefits. Wouldn't hurt to end the wars we are in either. There are many other cuts to programs but a good number are negligible. That's a start.

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That's great that you have a plan, too bad your party masters don't have one because they got gimps like you shilling for them at every opportunity.

It's funny how you try and pretend that you're a serious person when you're just flailing about, talking raising the minimum age for social security while in the next post lamenting how Republicans are picking on poor and old people.

Stop. Just stop. You and every other Democrat are just throwing any old bullshit out there that you think will get you by. Your president is at the forefront of this sort of kinetic non-action.

You guys have no plan for the debt that is crushing this nation and the entitlement crisis that is going to swallow up Social Security and Medicare. You schmucks have been busy for the last three years exacerbating the entitlement crisis with Obamacare.

Matt - if there was one great thing about the GI Bill, it was all vets got the same damn benefits no matter if it was GHW Bush or my father, a coal miner's son. That helped foster continued brotherhood after the war among vets.

As was mentioned here today, most social programs [vet benefits are probably the exception] have been bastardized because so-called need and income are used to determine who gets how much and so people figure out how to game the system and the system now employs a million or so social workers. Gah!

Everyone realizes that "cuts" do not mean the same to these people as to thee and me. If we are now spending one million but are projecting to spend one million two hundred thousand a "cut" may mean we will only spend one million one hundred thousand. That is a "cut" in DC. More but you call it less. The Republicans cant even change the vocabulary of the debate, much less win it.

5% across the board for all programs, all salaries all wages all benefits in the Federal sector. If the general public can be 9% unemployed they can begin to feel the pain too. And then we go from there. In the future all Federal agencies will have to track unemployment both up and down

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